One of the regular readers of the Mets Police shared this letter with me. He said it was cool to post it and asked that I strike the personal information. I share as an example of what the Mets are up against this off-season.
Dear Mr. Ianniciello:
I am the holder of two current plans, and a long-standing plan holder. I will go into next year without a ticket partner, who has expressed his rightful disgust at the hubris of your organization.
Before I consider renewal of any of these plans, I would like to discuss my concerns with the Mets organization:
- I would like an obstructed-view seat and fees related to it refunded (copy of ticket enclosed). My photos on available on a Mets blog called “The Mets Police.†Your front office has ignored three previous e-mails, and I’m afraid I may have to send a report to MLB that you’re selling obstructed-view seats at premium prices.
- I believe plans should include only Friday, Saturday, or Sunday games.
- As I lost about $600 last year because I couldn’t even give a ticket away for free; as the team, the new and awful stadium, and the organization were a disaster, I would like a 50% price reduction on your current offer, seats much lower and behind the plate in Section 511 or 512 (on the aisle), and a waiver of fees.
- I would like the right to visit the stadium named after a bank to see my new seats to ensure they are not blocked.
If this is unacceptable, enjoy your empty stadium. 2010 offers nothing more than a battle for last place with the Pirates. (The Nationals are currently a better team than the Mets.)
I have been a Mets fan since 1970, and our ownership and front office is as dismal as it was in the late-1970s/early 1980s. I will remain a Mets fan, but I—along with many other Mets fans—will continue to root for the sale of the team to an owner with the Mets in mind and a memory that the Mets were New York City’s “blue-collar†team.
Personally I have decided not to renew my plans. I am confident that not only will I be able to get tickets whenever I want, I am also confident that as the season draws near I will get calls from the ticket office with offers of better locations if not discounts.
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Saying that plans should include only Friday, Saturday, and Sunday games is a bit extreme. Plans with a title indicating "weekend" should only include Friday, Saturday, and Sunday games. There may well be a place for a "weekday sampler" package — which would by all rights include not a single Friday, Saturday, or Sunday game.
Hell, I bet they could market a plan consisting entirely of weekday day games. There might only be a small number of people interested, but for the Mets it's all about the incremental ticket sales…
Sorry. You're misinformed. The Mets consistently offered weekday and individual Friday, Saturday, and Sunday plans for years when they played at a real MLB ballpark called Shea Stadium. When they built Wilpon's Folly with 16,000 fewer seats, they perverted the plans in anticipation of continuous sellouts and fan desperation (remember when they raised prices in 2008 to take away the sticker shock of 2009 prices, which was really charging their real fans proxy PSLs). This year they're not selling out. They've deflated the fan base for three straight years, the Yankees recaptured all the frontrunners, and in a deep recession, few will pay NFL prices to see a mediocre team. They can certainly go back to the old plan system in 2010, and sadly, beyond…the only sellouts this year will be the Opener and the three games against the NYY. Making working fans buy five tickets for games they can't attend is a turn-off, not a turn-on.
I like when people take their displeasure to the Mets directly. It helps make more of a statement. I've been part of a group since the last quarter of the 2006 season for a full season plan (20 partners, probably 25-30 people splitting 81 games). Without knowing the price for our crappy seats for 2010 or how much of a discount we get, almost all of us voted to disband the group. What a shame.
I've been working on a post comparing a well respected hockey organization and a much disrespected baseball organization, both from the Tri-State area, and tickets are part of the comparison.
I am actually mailing in my letter tomorrow. I'm curious when they start reaching out.